Common Core Reading Standards
Grade to Grade Progression, Grades 7-12
The following pages list grade-by-grade standards for each of the Common Core
Reading standards. Formatted by the Polk Bros Foundation Center for Urban
Education, with key terms boldfaced to facilitate planning.
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences
from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions
drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize
the key supporting details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the
course of a text.
CRAFT AND STRUCTURE
4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical,
connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape
meaning or tone.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger
parts of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the
whole.
6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND IDEAS
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including
visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity
of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build
knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
RANGE AND LEVEL OF TEXT COMPLEXITY
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and
proficiently.
Formatted by the Polk Bros. Foundation Center for Urban Education
Source: Common Core State Standards, http://www.corestandards.org
Standard 1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical
inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions
drawn from the text.
LITERATURE
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from
the text.
8
Cite the textual evidence that most
strongly supports an analysis of what the
text says explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from text.
9Cite strong and thorough textual evidence
10 to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from
the text.
11- Cite strong and thorough textual evidence
12 to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from
the text, including determining where the
text leaves matters uncertain.
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NONFICTION/INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly
supports an analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the
text, including determining where the text
leaves matters uncertain.
Standard 2: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development;
summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
LITERATURE
Determine a theme or central idea of a text
and analyze its development over the course
of the text; provide an objective summary of
the text.
Determine a theme or central idea of a text
8
and analyze its development over the course
of the text, including its relationship to the
characters, setting, and plot; provide an
objective summary of the text.
Determine a theme or central idea of a text
910 and analyze in detail its development over
the course of the text, including how it
emerges and is shaped and refined by specific
details; provide an objective summary of the
text.
11- Determine two or more themes or central
12 ideas of a text and analyze their
development over the course of the text,
including how they interact and build on one
another to produce a complex account;
provide an objective summary of the text.
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NONFICTION/INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Determine two or more central ideas in a text
and analyze their development over the
course of the text; provide an objective
summary of the text.
Determine a central idea of a text and
analyze its development over the course of
the text, including its relationship to
supporting ideas; provide an objective
summary of the text.
Determine a central idea of a text and
analyze its development over the course of
the text, including how it emerges and is
shaped and refined by specific details; provide
an objective summary of the text.
Determine two or more central ideas of a text
and analyze their development over the
course of the text, including how they interact
and build on one another to provide a complex
analysis; provide an objective summary of the
text.
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Standard 3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the
course of a text.
LITERATURE
NONFICTION/INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Analyze how particular elements of a story
Analyze the interactions between individuals,
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or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas
the characters or plot).
influence individuals or events, or how
individuals influence ideas or events).
Analyze
how
particular
lines
of
dialogue
or
Analyze how a text makes connections
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incidents in a story or drama propel the
among and distinctions between individuals,
action, reveal aspects of a character, or
ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons,
provoke a decision.
analogies, or categories).
Analyze how complex characters (e.g.,
Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or
9series of ideas or events, including the order
10 those with multiple or conflicting
motivations) develop over the course of a
in which the points are made, how they are
text, interact with other characters, and
introduced and developed, and the
advance the plot or develop the theme.
connections that are drawn between them.
Analyze
the
impact
of
the
author’s
choices
Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence
11of events and explain how specific individuals,
12 regarding how to develop and relate
ideas, or events interact and develop over the
elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a
story is set, how the action is ordered, how
course of the text.
characters are introduced and developed).
Standard 4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining
technical, connotative, and figurative meanings,
and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
LITERATURE
NONFICTION/INFORMATIONAL TEXT
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8
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as
they are used in a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes
and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a
specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story
or drama.
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as
they are used in a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific
word choices on meaning and tone, including
analogies or allusions to other texts.
910
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as
they are used in the text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative
impact of specific word choices on meaning and
tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time
and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
1112
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as
they are used in the text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific
word choices on meaning and tone, including words
with multiple meanings or language that is
particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include
Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and technical
meanings; analyze the impact of a specific
word choice on meaning and tone.
Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and technical
meanings; analyze the impact of specific
word choices on meaning and tone, including
analogies or allusions to other texts.
Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and technical
meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of
specific word choices on meaning and tone
(e.g., how the language of a court opinion
differs from that of a newspaper).
Determine the meaning of words and
phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and technical
meanings; analyze how an author uses and
refines the meaning of a key term or terms
over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison
defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
Formatted by the Polk Bros. Foundation Center for Urban Education
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Standard 5: Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and
larger parts of the text relate to each other and the whole.
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8
910
1112
LITERATURE
Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or
structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to
its meaning.
Compare and contrast the structure of two or
more texts and analyze how the differing
structure of each text contributes to its meaning
and style.
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning
how to structure a text, order events within it
(e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g.,
pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as
mystery, tension, or surprise.
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning
how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the
choice of where to begin or end a story, the
choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution)
contribute to its overall structure and meaning
as well as its aesthetic impact.
NONFICTION/INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Analyze the structure an author uses to
organize a text, including how the major
sections contribute to the whole and to the
development of the ideas.
Analyze in detail the structure of a specific
paragraph in a text, including the role of
particular sentences in developing and refining
a key concept.
Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or
claims are developed and refined by
particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger
portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).
Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the
structure an author uses in his or her
exposition or argument, including whether
the structure makes points clear, convincing,
and engaging.
Standard 6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
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8
LITERATURE
Analyze how an author develops and
contrasts the points of view of different
characters or narrators in a text.
Analyze how differences in the points of
view of the characters and the audience or
reader (e.g., created through the use of
dramatic irony) create such effects as
suspense or humor.
9Analyze a particular point of view or cultural
10 experience reflected in a work of literature
from outside the United States, drawing on a
wide reading of world literature.
11- Analyze a case in which grasping point of
12 view requires distinguishing what is directly
stated in a text from what is really meant
(e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or
understatement).
NONFICTION/INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Determine an author’s point of view or
purpose in a text and analyze how the
author distinguishes his or her position
from that of others.
Determine an author’s point of view or
purpose in a text and analyze how the
author acknowledges and responds to
conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
Determine an author’s point of view or
purpose in a text and analyze how an
author uses rhetoric to advance that
point of view or purpose.
Determine an author’s point of view or
purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is
particularly effective, analyzing how style
and content contribute to the power,
persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.
Formatted by the Polk Bros. Foundation Center for Urban Education
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Standard 7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including
visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
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8
910
1112
LITERATURE
Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or
poem to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia
version, analyzing the effects of techniques
unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, sound,
color, or camera focus and angles in a film).
Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live
production of a story or drama stays faithful to or
departs from the text or script, evaluating the
choices made by the director or actors.
Analyze the representation of a subject or a
key scene in two different artistic mediums,
including what is emphasized or absent in each
treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts”
and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of
Icarus).
Analyze multiple interpretations of a story,
drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production
of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating
how each version interprets the source text.
(Include at least one play by Shakespeare and
one play by an American dramatist.)
NONFICTION/INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video,
or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each
medium’s portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the
delivery of a speech affects the impact of the
words).
Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of
using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text,
video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or
idea.
Analyze various accounts of a subject told in
different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in
both print and multimedia), determining which
details are emphasized in each account.
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of
information presented in different media or
formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in
words in order to address a question or solve a
problem.
Standard 8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the
validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
Not applicable to literature.
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NONFICTION/INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the
reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.
8
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether
the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when
irrelevant evidence is introduced.
910
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether
the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements
and fallacious reasoning.
1112
Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of
constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority
opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public
advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).
Formatted by the Polk Bros. Foundation Center for Urban Education
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Standard 9: Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build
knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
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8
910
1112
LITERATURE
Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of
a time, place, or character and a historical
account of the same period as a means of
understanding how authors of fiction use or
alter history.
Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws
on themes, patterns of events, or character
types from myths, traditional stories, or
religious works such as the Bible, including
describing how the material is rendered new.
Analyze how an author draws on and
transforms source material in a specific work
(e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic
from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author
draws on a play by Shakespeare).
Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-,
nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century
foundational works of American literature,
including how two or more texts from the same
period treat similar themes or topics.
NONFICTION/INFORMATIONAL TEXT
Analyze how two or more authors writing about the
same topic shape their presentations of key
information by emphasizing different evidence or
advancing different interpretations of facts.
Analyze a case in which two or more texts provide
conflicting information on the same topic and
identify where the texts disagree on matters of fact
or interpretation.
Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and
literary significance (e.g., Washington’s Farewell
Address, the Gettysburg Address, Roosevelt’s Four
Freedoms speech, King’s “Letter from Birmingham
Jail”), including how they address related themes
and concepts.
Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenthcentury foundational U.S. documents of historical
and literary significance (including The Declaration
of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution,
the Bill of Rights, and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural
Address) for their themes, purposes, and
rhetorical features.
Formatted by the Polk Bros. Foundation Center for Urban Education
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